Born in Sydney on 19 January 1935, Johnny O'Keefe became the undisputed King of Australian rock and roll. There was little or no rock music scene in Australia, and certainly no Australian rock recordings, prior to 1957, when Bill Haley toured the country. A local band, the Dee Jays with vocalist Johnny O'Keefe, was chosen as the supporting act. Johnny O'Keefe had been performing in talent shows, mainly doing impersonations of Johnny Ray singing songs such as Crying and The Little White Cloud that Cried (complete with prop glasses filled with water to make artificial tears). His performance supporting Bill Haley led to a contract with Festival Records